Thursday, July 29, 2010

iPad App Review: AirSketch

AirSketch is a new iPad app from Qrayon LLC and at first glance, it seems to be just another basic whiteboard app. After further review, it turns out that the application has one important feature up its sleeve that sets it head and shoulders above the rest: drawing progress can be viewed in real time using any Web browser with rudimentary HTML5 support, as long as it's on the same local network.

The drawing tools in AirSketch are fairly simple... there are five different writing implements to choose from, each with a fixed radius. These tools include a pencil, a pen, a marker, a paint brush, and a highlighter; the last two are somewhat transparent and respond to color overlay appropriately. There are eight color slots available that you can customize by double-tapping one of the default colors and then using a color picker to select the new color.

The eraser tool is also fixed radius; this can be problematic if you have a large area of content to erase, but the developer has attempted to mitigate this somewhat by allowing the user to clear the entire screen with a single touch of an icon. If you accidentally delete the contents of a drawing, they can easily be brought back thanks to multiple levels of undo/redo.

Just fire up Air Sketch on the iPad and open the specified URL from any HTML5 compatible browser on another computer on your network to see your sketches in real-time as you draw. There's no additional client software to install. Use Air Sketch at home, the office, or even with a friend's laptop.

Connect your laptop to a projector to sketch wirelessly to a big screen.

Air Sketch is also perfect for recording videos of your drawings, sharing them with remote colleagues via online meeting or desktop sharing software (such as iChat), or incorporating the iPad into your desktop-based workflow.

Air Sketch supports any HTML5-compatible browser, including Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome, and even another iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch!

You can even use Air Sketch peer-to-peer with a computer via an ad-hoc network when a WiFi hotspot is unavailable (see our blog for the quick how-to).